


The Escape of Prisoner 2352761

by fireflysglow_archivist



Category: Firefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-26
Updated: 2006-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-29 07:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14467434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireflysglow_archivist/pseuds/fireflysglow_archivist
Summary: YoSafBridge escapes with help from someone unexpected.





	The Escape of Prisoner 2352761

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).

The Escape of Prisoner 2352761

## The Escape of Prisoner 2352761

The Operative came back to the correctional facility where YoSafBridge was held and asked the guard, Christine Louie, "Do you remember me? Are you going to make me go through the hand scan again?" 

"No, sir. I remember you," Christine Louie replied. 

The Operative said, "I am here to see prisoner 2352761. I would like to ask her more questions." 

"Yes, sir, but she is scheduled for correction today. She is in the interrogation chamber now, being visited by her husband." 

"Which husband?" the Operative asked. 

"A Derrick -- excuse me -- a Durran Haymer." 

"The rich man?" asked the Operative. 

"Yes." 

"I don't recall seeing a correction order for her," said the Operative. 

"The lab technician told me that the correction order came in. I took his word for it. He normally handles those." 

"I don't recall seeing a notice that Durran Haymer had been arrested," said the Operative. 

"He hasn't been arrested." 

"Then what is he doing in this facility?" asked the Operative. 

"The lab technician told me that Durran Haymer was part of the correction order." 

"I see," said the Operative, not fully understanding. 

* * *

YoSafBridge was sitting in an interrogation chair, restrained by straps to the chair. 

"You are sick, Yolanda. The technician is going to bring back the Yolanda that I remember," said Durran Haymer, one of YoSafBridge's husbands. 

"Don't do this, Durran. You'll be killing me. My body will still be alive, but you'll be killing me." Her voice changed to a pleading tone as she said, "I care about you, Peaches. The computer can show you that I'm telling the truth." 

"Caring about me is not the same as loving me. I have always sensed that about you. I just had hoped that you would learn to love me. The truth is that you will continue to be the person who kicked me in the head, both literally and figuratively, unless I help you. I love you, Yolanda, and I would give anything to get you back." 

The technician, Tanner Li, thought to himself, "I should have asked for more money." 

YoSafBridge regained her composure and buried her true self to feel less vulnerable and said, "I know that I'm hot, Peaches, but you love an idea of me, not me." 

Durran persisted. "Once you are corrected, you can be released, like all of the other prisoners who have passed through here. You will be so happy, Yolanda. We will be so happy together. Don't you want to forget all of your unhappiness? Don't you want true and lasting love and happiness?" 

YoSafBridge said, "Love and happiness don't come from a computer, Durran." 

"But they do. You will not be losing all of your memories and emotions, just the ones that need correcting." Durran turned to the technician. "When will you be ready?" 

The technician replied, "I just need you to sit in this chair so that I can link your memories to the computer. Everything has been prepared, and I just need to press that button to begin the process." Tanner Li pointed to a button on a panel to the right of YoSafBridge's chair. 

YoSafBridge's began to breathe faster, and her heart began to beat faster, as she made one last appeal in a serious tone, saying, "Durran, if you love me, then let me be who I am." 

Durran sat in the chair facing YoSafeBridge's chair. The technician put a transparent rod onto Durran's forehead and began to restrain Durran Haymer. 

Durran asked the technician, "Why are you strapping my arms to the chair?" 

The technician replied, "It's just a precaution in case some feedback occurs and your body starts to convulse. That rarely happens. It's perfectly safe. Here, let me put this in your mouth so that you don't swallow your own tongue." 

Durran began to say, "What?" but before he could finish, the technician used the opportunity to stick a plastic mouth guard into Durran's mouth. Durran was reminded of the time that he needed a 3D head scan after he was kicked in the head by YoSafBridge, the woman whom he knew as Yolanda. The doctor had told him that the scan was perfectly safe and then proceeded to put a heavy radiation shield over the rest of his body and then quickly left the room before the scan began. "Where's the mouth guard for Yolanda?" 

"She won't need it," the technician replied. "She's completely safe." 

"As opposed to perfectly safe?" asked Durran. 

"Yes. I will just be putting the interface rod on her forehead, and then we can begin." 

Saffron closed her eyes and began to convulse in her chair. 

"What's wrong?" asked Durran. 

"This shouldn't be happening. I -- I haven't pressed the button or even put the interface rod on her yet." 

Durran exclaimed, "Help her! Help her!" 

The urgency in Durran's voice made the situation seem more real, and the technician overcame his better judgement. He put the interface rod down on a nearby tray and unstrapped YoSafeBridge from her chair when she suddenly opened her eyes and headbutted him. The technician stumbled backwards a few steps. YoSafBridge stood, took a step forward, and roundhouse kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious. She dragged the technician's body onto her chair and began to strap him to the chair. 

"Yolanda, what are you doing?" 

YoSafBridge replied matter-of-factly, "The same thing that you were going to do to me, Peaches." 

"No!" 

YoSafBridge continued, "There is no shame in this, in two men loving each other. I hope that you and Yolanda are very happy together." 

"No!" Durran began to struggle in an attempt to get out of his straps. 

YoSafBridge put the transparent rod onto the technician's forehead and pushed the button on the computer panel. 

Durran closed his eyes and began to say, "No," again, but it came out sounding more like, "Nuh!" 

The door to the room opened, and the Operative walked in. 

Durran murmured, as though he were talking in his sleep, "I love you, Yolanda." 

The Operative looked at Durran. 

The technician murmured in a masculine voice, "I love you, Peaches." 

The Operative looked at the technician. 

The Operative finally looked at YoSafBridge and asked, "Mrs. Reynolds, what is happening here?" 

YoSafBridge began to back away from him. 

* * *

Some time later, YoSafBridge appeared with the Operative at the entrance of the correctional facility. YoSafBridge had a blank stare on her face, as though she had been lobotomized. 

Christine Louie asked, "Is the correction complete?" 

"Yes," replied the Operative. 

"Where are the others?" Christine Louie asked. 

"The technician is finalizing the correction of Durran Haymer," said the Operative. "It seems that he tried to swallow his own tongue." 

Christine Louie made a single waving gesture in the direction of the interrogation room and said, "That happens all the time." 

"I am taking the prisoner for relocation and rehabilitation," said the Operative. 

"I just need you to authorize her release," said Christine Louie. 

The Operative asked, "Have you seen that wave about how some chemical changed some colonists into Reavers?" 

"Yes, I have," Christine Louie replied. 

"What do you think of it?" the Operative asked. 

"I think that it's a fabrication, just as the official news waves have indicated," Christine Louie said. "Some people believed the official news, some people didn't, while a lot of people were simply confused." 

"I see," said the Operative. 

The guard turned to get a data pad from a desk for authorization. She continued saying, "I was talking about it with Tanner, and he thought --" Christine Louie did not finish the sentence, because the Operative stabbed her in the lower back with the tip of his right hand like a spear and made a twist. The guard was stunned and paralyzed. 

YoSafBridge dropped her blank look, stared at the guard who was now a statue. The Operative moved his palm in a more gentle motion towards the entrance. 

"Where's the other guard?" YoSafBridge asked. 

"There never was another guard," the Operative replied. "The memory of him was implanted." 

"Where's my purse?" YoSafBridge asked. 

"That memory was also implanted. You did not have a purse when you were arrested." 

* * *

The Operative and YoSafBridge walked toward the Operative's shuttle in the afternoon sunlight. The correctional facility seemed small from the outside, surrounded by grasses in a rural area. YoSafBridge remembered the correctional facility as being much larger in an urban area. The real correctional facility did not house many prisoners at a time, since most prisoners were corrected and then released. The government saved a lot of money through their just-in-time correctional program. The government did not need to hire as many guards and did not have to house and feed as many prisoners for as long as in older prison facilities. 

"Where am I?" YoSafBridge asked as she looked up at the sky and noticed that the intensity of sunlight was different. "I thought that I was on Bellerophon." 

"You were, but you were transferred to this correctional facility on Persephone," the Operative indicated. 

"I don't remember that," said YoSafBridge. 

"Your short-term memories were repeatedly erased as we tried to extract information from you," the Operative informed her. 

"I can't believe that you're going to let me go out of the goodness of your heart," YoSafBridge stated. "You're just afraid to go back in my mind after what happened last time, aren't you? Well, you can follow me, but I don't know where the Lassiter laser is." 

"I have a change of clothes for you on my shuttle. I must leave you now, Mrs. Reynolds, because my heart has stopped beating." The Operative sat down on the ground and laid on his back. 

YoSafBridge asked, "Why do you keep calling me that?" Her mind did not quite process the part where he said that his heart had stopped. 

"My heart has stopped beating, because I have failed to contact my handler at a regularly scheduled interval." 

"What do you mean?" 

"All operatives must report to their handlers on a regular basis and complete their missions or their hearts will stop," the Operative replied. 

"I thought that was a dream," YoSafBridge said, realizing that the Operative was telling the truth. "When you forced me to remember ... I saw through your eyes and saw myself sitting in the chair. I saw you as a peace activist, protesting against the war until your group was arrested. Whoever corrected you had a sick sense of humor." 

"I'm sorry for making you remember. I believed at the time that what I was doing was right." 

"Then why are you helping me?" 

"You are not the only person to have had their eyes opened," said the Operative. "So many people take their names for granted. I no longer know my name. I knew that you were eventually going to undergo correction, just not today." 

"I'm sure that Durran threw some credits around to arrange that," said YoSafBridge. 

The Operative continued. "I heard your mother singing to you when I was deep inside your mind. You have a pretty name. You should keep your name." 

"You know my name? What's my name?" YoSafBridge followed the Operative's blank gaze up into the sky and said, "I'm still sitting in that chair, aren't I?" After a long pause with no reply, she looked at the Operative and said, "Part of you was still inside of me when our minds were torn from each other. Part of me was still inside of you." She feels her heart flutter and puts her hand on her chest but recovers. 

* * *

Inara and River were sitting in Inara's shuttle, and Inara was brushing River's hair. 

River said, "I saw Simon and Kaylee kissing." 

Inara smiled and replied, "Kaylee always liked Simon. You'll be getting your own boyfriend some day." 

River replied, "Just like you. You kissed Mal when he was unconscious on the floor." 

Inara's eyes opened in alarm. She quickly looked to the shuttle door to see if anyone was there, turned back to River and whispered, "River, no." 

River laughed a little and smiled. 

* * *

Mal was piloting the Serenity transport ship as Zoe stood near him. 

Zoe was saying, "I don't know, sir. A small-time criminal like Badger is not going to be able to move the Lassiter." 

Mal replied, "I think you underestimate him. With the Alliance after us, we are going to need some extra coin, even if it is at a deep discount." 

Zoe said, "We should have picked up what we could have salvaged when we were on Miranda. All of the banks would have been undefended." 

Mal sighed and said, "I know, but I don't feel like going back through Reaver space again, do you?" 

Zoe replied, "No, sir. There are still a lot of them left, waiting for us with open arms and teeth." 

Mal said, "That whole place felt like a cemetery. I had enough of walking over dead bodies in the war. We probably would have run into some Reavers on Miranda if we looked long enough." 

Zoe replied, "Yes, sir." 

* * *

The face of Malcolm Reynolds appeared on Badger's view screen. On Malcolm Reynold's view screen, he could see the back of a woman with long blond hair seated at Badger's desk and Badger facing the camera from the other side of the desk. Mal said, "Badger, it's me. I'm coming to Persephone." 

Badger replied, "Have we met? Oh. You must be Malcolm Reynolds, the husband of Mrs. Malcolm Reynolds. She is wanted for breaking out of a correctional facility and wanted for questioning in the death of an unidentified man. I don't know what they do to people in there, but whoever comes out of there is different somehow. Some people come out of there with silly smiles on their faces. Others look at you as if they don't see you. I wouldn't be surprised if they turned her into a homicidal maniac. I don't know you or any of what I just said, because I only associate with legitimate, law-abiding individuals. So, as I was saying, I don't know you." Badger cut off the wave transmission. 

Badger's guest said, "She sounds like a real troublemaker." 

Badgers turned to his guest and said, "Yes, she does. I don't think I'd want to cross paths with her. So, Barbara, what brings you to Persephone?" 

Badger's guest was YoSafBridge, who replied, "I came to sell you a shuttle. Then I'm going to get something to eat. Then I'm going to visit a friend." 

* * *

Malcolm Reynolds and Jayne were standing outside of the Serenity's loading ramp. 

Mal informed Jayne, "Seems that YoSafBridge broke out of a correctional facility and is causing all kinds of ruckus." 

Jayne replied, "She does that." 

Mal continued. "Yet another man that she was with turned up dead. Surprise, surprise. Badger thinks that she's my wife and won't have anything to do with us." 

Jayne began to say, "Well, we can still go --" 

YoSafBridge interrupted. "I didn't kill him. His heart just stopped." 

Mal turned to YoSafBridge in surprise and reached for his gun but relaxed a little when he saw that she was unarmed. He said, "Oh, I believe you," indicating that he did not believe her. 

YoSafBridge abruptly asked Mal, "Are you my husband?" 

Mal was puzzled, and replied, "What? No -- well, yes, but no, only because you tricked me." 

YoSafBridge said, "I'm sorry. I had to be sure. They manipulated my memories. I wasn't sure what was real." 

Mal replied, "That might not be a new condition." 

YoSafBridge could not contain her sarcasm. "Ha. Ha. Look, I'm sorry for whatever bad things I did to you and your crew. You can keep the Lassiter. I don't want it anymore." 

Mal said, "Well, isn't that convenient? Are you saying that you have no memories of what you did to us?" 

YoSafBridge replied, "I do have memories. I just wasn't sure until now which ones were real." 

Mal asked, "What makes you think that we still have the Lassiter?" 

YoSafBridge replied, "You wouldn't be able to move something as expensive as that. Keep it as something to remember me by, hubby." 

Jayne said, "You do seem ... different. Who are ya today?" 

YoSafBridge replied, "I am me. I won't be bothering you again." She turned and walked away. 

Mal and Jayne were puzzled and watched her leave. 

Mal said, "She's off her nut. We have to leave. Now." 

Jayne nodded. 

* * *

Kaylee was sitting sideways on Simon's lap with her arms wrapped around his neck in a seat near the kitchen. 

River was sitting nearby, singing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." 

Simon said, "River, that's pretty. Did you make that up?" 

"No," River replied. "It's an ancient song from Earth That Was." 

Kaylee said to Simon, "That's how I feel about you, sunshine." Kaylee kissed Simon. 

Simon said, "I've never heard you sing that song before. Where did you learn it?" 

"Here," River replied. "I heard a mother singing it to her baby."

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title:   **The Escape of Prisoner 2352761**   
Author:   **Edward Lee**   
Details:   **Standalone**  |  **PG**  |  **gen**  |  **16k**  |  **04/26/06**   
Characters:  Other \- Operative & YoSafBridge   
Summary:  YoSafBridge escapes with help from someone unexpected.   
  



End file.
